European patent No. 461 888 discloses automatically identifying a vehicle approaching a service site, providing service to the vehicle at the service site, and billing a person or company for the service provided. The known system relies on determining electronically whether an approaching vehicle is stopping for service and on identifying electronically the approaching vehicle as it enters into a service site. To this end the vehicle is provided with a passive tag which is activated by a signal from a site antenna that is always energized. When the service has been provided the transaction is registered and the costs associated with the service are billed.
In the known system, every approaching vehicle is identified, even when the driver passes through the service site in order to visit a shop or a toilet that is present on the premises. Furthermore, special precautions have to be taken to prevent any other nearby service site from identifying the vehicle after it has been identified by the service site where it stops.
The present invention provides a system and a method for providing service to a vehicle positioned at a service site wherein the driver manually starts the process of identifying the vehicle, and wherein in addition the transaction itself is monitored as well.